Watching TV Can Be a Genuine Addiction; RESEARCH: Television Can Work in Same Way as Habit-Forming Drugs, Say Scientists

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Byline: HUGH DOUGHERTY

TELEVISION addicts have the same symptoms as alcoholics or drug addicts, according to a study published yesterday.

The research, by US scientists, claims television addiction is a real affliction which works in the same way as habit-forming drugs and leaves sufferers craving more viewing.

Professors Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi make the claim in The Scientific American and argue that watching television is like gambling or sex in the way people become addicted to it.

"The term 'TV addiction' is imprecise and laden with value judgments, but it captures the essence of a very real phenomenon, " said the scientists. …